Today in History

US Pres. George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 troops to Somalia during the Somali Civil War.

The last American hostages held in Lebanon are released.

Robert McFarland resigns as National Security Advisor. Admiral John Poindexter is named to succeed.

President Ronald Reagan broadens the power of the CIA by allowing spying in the United States.

Peking pardons Pu Yi, ex-emperor of China and of the Japanese puppet-state of Manchukuo.

The Grumman XS2F-1 makes its first flight.

The University of Tennessee defies court rulings by rejecting five Negro applicants.

Jeff Bridges, actor, producer; won Academy Award for Best Actor as Otis "Bad" Blake in Crazy Heart (2009).

Tennessee William’s play A Streetcar Named Desire premieres on Broadway starring Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy.

A. Scott Berg, Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer (Lindberg, 1998).

Chris Hillman, singer, songwrier, musician; performed with the bands The Byrds, The Hillmen, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Manassas.

U.S. planes make the first raids on Naples, Italy.

Operation Taifun (Typhoon), which was launched by the German armies on October 2, 1941, as a prelude to taking Moscow, is halted because of freezing temperatures and lack of serviceable aircraft.

Gary Gilmore, American murderer who demanded his death sentence be carried out; he was the first prisoner executed in the US following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia.

Max Baer Jr., actor, screenwriter, director, producer; best know for his role as Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies TV series

Frank Press, geophysicist.

France cancels trade treaties in order to compete in the postwar economic battles.

The first Seaplane Unit formed by the German Navy officially comes into existence and begins operations from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

The French National Assembly, successor to the States-General, rejects Nationalist General Mercier’s proposal to plan an invasion of England.

Francisco Franco, Spanish general and dictator who came to power as a result of the Spanish Civil War.

Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet.

The U.S. brigantine Marie Celeste is found adrift and deserted with its cargo intact, in the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Portugal.

Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter.

Edith Cavell, English nurse who tended to friend and foe alike during World War I.

Seven solid days of bombardment ends at Charleston, S.C. The Union fires some 1,307 rounds.

Winchester, Va., falls into Union hands, resulting in the capture of 145 Southern soldiers.

Lillian Russell, singer and actress.

Samuel Butler, English writer and painter (Erewhon, The Way of All Flesh).

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and essayist (The French Revolution, Sartor Resartus).

John Cotton, English-born Puritan clergyman (The Way of the Church of Christ in New England).

With the death of his brother Carloman, Charlemagne becomes sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.